Adjustable mold holder



April 1947- H. ROTHSTEIN 2,418,852

ADJUSTABLE MOLD HOLDER Filed.Ju1y 28, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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April 15, 1947. H. ROTHSTEIN v 2,418,852

ADJUSTABLE MOLD HOLDER Filed July 28, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 flflWANRon/5mm INVENTOR.

Patented Apr. 15, 1947 UNITED STTES OFFICE 9 Claims.

This invention relates to casting machines operating by centrifugalaction, particularly such machines as used in the jewelry trade.

At present wax castings used in the jewelry trade are made on suchcentrifugal machines which have a vertical shaft, a transverse rod onthe top of it, a wax container slidable on said rod, a base at one endof said rod on which the mold for the casting may be secured, and acounter-weight at the other end. A spring is employed around thevertical shaft and when the shaft is rotated, the reaction of the springwill cause it to rotate in the other direction, and the centrifugalforce will throw the molten wax into the mold.

The molds used, usually are made of rubber and are of two partsseparated horizontally in the center, half of the casting being inone-half of the mold and the other half in the other, and a castingopening and channel being provided from the end of the mold in registerwith the outflow opening of the wax container.

To secure such two part rubber molds on the end of the rotating rod is avery slow, cumbersome operation, and very often the casting is ruined bya faulty securing, position, registering, or pressure of the mold.

The main object of my invention is to provide a holder for molds, incases as described, and similar to it, wherein the mold may be securedeasily and quickly, placed in the right positioni a most favorablepressure employed thereon, and may be removed and taken apart just aseasily andquickly after the casting is finished.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent as the specification ofthe same proceeds.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification and accompanying,the same:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic, fragmentary, elevational view of the top ofthe rotating part of a centrifugal casting machine showing my inventionapplied thereon, and,

Fig. 2 is a similar plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of my inven tion as applied on saidcentrifugal machine;

Fig. 4 is a right side elevational view thereof with reference to theosition of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevational View;

Fig. 6 is a bottom View, portions of the same bein broken aw y;

Fi '7 is a fragmentary deta l-- Referring now to the drawings more indetail, by characters of reference, the numeral idindicates the verticalshaft of a centrifugal casting machine, on which is secured a horizontalmold carrying arm, rod, or bar ii. i2 is the molten wax container havingthe recess l3 for the wax and-the outflow M for it.

My novel mold holder or carrier with a mold shown therein is generallyindicated by the numeral i ii and it is opposite the outflow side of thewax container.

An arm it is at the other end of rod II for rotating the same and at H aslidable counterweight is shown.

Except for my novel mold receiver [5, the arrangement is the usual one,as now employed in jewelry casting shops.

Shaft it in this arrangement is driven in a quick rotation by the actionof a spring (not shown) around the lower part of shaft Ill 'put undertension manually by the rotation of the shaft is through the use ofhandle or grip It on rod H, as will be obvious and as is well known inthis art, for which reason further details of the mechanism are notshown.

It is understood that mechanical, motor means may be used for rotatingthe shaft it, as in the case with a new type of such casting machine,and itwill be seen that my novel mold receiver, holder and regulatordevice may be used on such machine in an exactly similar manner as onmanually operated casting machines.

As has been indicated herein before, at present, in either type of suchcentrifugal casting machines, a mold holder or receiver plate is setakeof the mold, for which the mold will be moved I onits plate in anappropriate manner, and different plates, parts, etc., used for molds ofdifferent thicknesses, and the pressure holding the upper half of themold on the lower half thereof will be adjusted manually by tighteningor loosening the rubber bands around them as well aspossible.

This is a slow, time consuming, cumbersome, awkward and unreliablemethod, resulting in many faulty castings. If the registering is wrong,or the pressure is too high, or toorlow, etc., the cast will bedeficient, or entirely unusable. For every new casting a good portion ofthese operations have to 'be repeated. The operator must be a highlyexperienced expert and even then the 3 result is doubtful and the rateof production very slow.

With my invention all the necessary operations may be done quickly,absolutely reliably, for any molds, small or large, and repeatedcastings may be produced easily and expeditiously.

My novel device also employs a base plate, indicated at l8, on which the2 two part rubber mold, designated by i9, may be placed.

Base plate Hiv may have a front upstanding longitudinal flange 20, and arear such flange 2 i, and in the bottom center thereof, a downwardlyprojecting post member 22 with a slot 23 through which the rod llpasses.

A lyre shaped casting 24 is secured on the rod H, as at 25, having leftside and right side pairs of prongs 26 and 21, respectively, at the topsof its left and right branches 28 and 29, the downward projection 22 ofthe base plate i8 being slidably received between said branches and theroll H being placed between said prongs.

A regulating screw 33 passes through a screw threaded opening 3| in thebottom 32 of the lyre 24. The upper end 33 of the screw is swiveled inthe bottom 34 of the downward projecting member 22 (Fig. 7). This swivelis preferably formed by pins 35 passing through the part 34 and engaginga circular groove 36 in the upper part 33 of the screw, as it is wellknown in this art.

Upon turning the screw 30 in one or in the other direction, it will moveupwardly or downwardly through the part 32, rotating in the part 34, andwill push or pull the slotted member 22 upwardlyor downwardly and withit the base plate l8, and my whole device with the mold l9 therein.Inthis manner the vertical position of the mold may be adjusted, withreference to the rotating arm or rod H within'the limit given by thedifference between the heights of slot 23 in aid projection 22 and ofthe rod H.

An upwardly and downwardly slidable vertical rear plate 31 is secured onthe base plate IS in the following manner: Two inward lugs 38 and 39 areprovided at the bottom edge of the rear plate 31 having aperturestherein through which the respective pins 40 and M, extending downwardlyfrom the base plate l8, may slide.

Athird inward'lug 42 is also provided at the bottom center of the sideplate 31 having a screw threaded" opening through which passes theregulating screw 43, and at the bottom of the base plate l3 acorresponding 111g 44 is provided in which the upper end of the screw 43is secured, rotatably but axially not movably, in a similar manner asillustrated in Fig. 7 for the slotted projection 22.

It will be seen that upon the turning of the screw 43 in one or in theother direction, the rear plate 31 will move upwardly or downwardly,sliding by its lugs 38 and 39 on the pins 49 and A clamping top plate 45is hingedly secured on the rear plate 31, as at 46:

On the free, front edge 41 of the top 45 are secured two upwardly openchannel brackets 48 and 49, in which normally rests a longitudinal bar50, connected by two coiled springs 51 and 52 to a lower bar 53. A screw54 passes through bracket 55.projecting from the base plate (8 its upperend 56 rotatably but axially not movably secured, or swiveled, in bar53. a

' When the screw 54 is rotated in one or in the other directiomitwillpull bar 53 downwardly, or push it upwardly, thereby eitherincreasing the tension of springs 5| and 52, or decreasing the same, andin this manner the top 45 will exert on the mold IS an increased ordecreased pressure.

At the left side of the base plate IS a transverse pusher plate or bar51 is slidably arranged thereon. A longitudinal center slot 58 isprovided in the base 18 and a downward lug 59 of the pusher bar 51 isslidable in said slot. A screw threaded hole 69 is provided in the lowerpart of lug 59 and a regulating screw 6| passes through it. A screwthreaded left end lug or bearing 62 is depending from the base plate [8for the screw 66,

and the right hand end of it is rotatably but axially not movablysecured, or swiveled, in another depending lug 63, similarly a shown inFig. 7. Upon rotating screw 6|, lug 59, and pusher bar 5'! therewith,will move in a right hand or left hand direction towards or away fromthe mold l9.

The use and operation of my device will be obvious from the hereindescription thereof but I desire to offer the following furtherexplanations.

In using my invention, the mold l9 will be placed on the base plate l8,its centerline, normally containing the intake or sprue opening 64,normally being placed in the centerline of the plate l8, generallydefined by the screw Bl. The outflow opening 14 of the wax container i 2normally also is in said centerline.

Now the wax container l2 will be moved up to close on the mold 19, asindicated by arrow 65, it being slidable on bar i l and having means(not shown) to release it and permit its sliding or to lock it to saidbar, as it is well known in this art.

The base plate l8 with the mold thereon will now be raised or lowereduntil the outflow opening [4 registers with the intake opening 64. Thisadjustin is executed by the screw 30 as will be understood andthereafter the pusher plate 51 will be moved in a right handed direction(arrow 56) by the use of screw 61 until it presses against the left sideof the mold l9, and will press it tightly against the wax container I2.

It will be understood that the top 65 of my device has been released andthrown open around the hinge 46. For this purpose the upper bar 59 ofthe spring closure and pressure device will be lifted upwardly, asindicated by the arrow 10, and through the grip H, out of the channelbrackets 48 and 49, then turned outwardly, as indicated by the arrow 12,and the bar 50 and its springs 5i and 52 permitted to hang loosely onthe lower bar 53.

After the mold has been arranged in the right position and pressedagainst the wax container l2, the top plate 45 will be closed upon it,turned inwardly on its pivot 43, into the position shown in the variousfigures, and particularly in Figs. 3 and 4, whereupon the bar 53 will becaught by the grip it, pulled upwardly, stretching the springs 51 and52, moved over the channel brackets 48 and 49, and dropped into them,into the closure position of said Figs. 3 and 4.

The pressure of the plate 45 on the mold l9 will now be adjusted by thescrew 54, as has been described hereinbefore, loosening the springs 5|and 52, or tightening them, according to the judgment of the operator.

The device is now ready for the casting, and molten wax will be poured.into the recess l3.of the container I2, shaft Ill turned through the useof the handle it on bar H, and its spring will cause it to rotate in anopposite direction with great speed and the centrifugal force will throwthe moltenwax into the mold I9.

opened, the mold removed, opened up, and the ready wax casting takenout, the mold replaced in the same position as before, and again lockedby the top plate as, and the device is ready for another casting.

It will be seen that in this manner, with my device, a great number ofcastings may be made without any new adjustment, easily and extremelyquickly, as against the cumbersome, difiicult, and slow operation, usedat present with such machines.

To adjust the mold holder or carrier l to receive molds of differentdimensions, the screw 54 is turned thereby raising or lowering the topplate 31 to space the same from the base plate 18 so as to substantiallycorrespond "to the height of the mold. The screw 6i is adjusted to movethe pusher plate 5? against one end of the mold projecting the other endslightly beyond the base and top plates. The wax holder I2 is then movedadjacent to the mold and the screw 39 is adjusted to raise or lower thecarrier l5 so as to bring the sprue opening in the mold in registrationto the outlet opening in the Wax holder. The screw 54 may then beadjusted to place the desired ISilient pressure upon the top plate. Thedevice so adjusted may be used for forming successive castings as longas the same molds are employed.

What I claim as new and want to protectv by r Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. In a centrifugal casting machine, the combination with a rotatablearm; of a mold carrier mounted on said arm comprising top and base moldclamping plates, a side plate hinged at its upper end to said topclamping plate and at its lower end overlapping said base plate, pinsde-- pending from said base plate, bearings on said side plate slidablyengaging said pins, an adjusting screw for moving said side plate withrespect to said base plate to vary the spacing between said top and baseplates and resilient means for detachably connecting said top and baseplates on the side opposite said side plate.

2. In a centrifugal casting machine, the combination with a rotatablearm; of a mold carrier mounted on said arm comprising top and base moldclamping plates, a side plate hinged at its upper end to said topclamping plate and at its lower end overlapping said base plate, pinsdepending from said base plate, bearings on said side plate slidablyengaging said pins, an adjusting screw for moving said side plate withrespect to said base plate to vary the spacing between said top and baseplates, resilient means for detachably connecting said top and baseplates on the side opposite said side plate and means for adjusting saidresilient means to change the clamping pressure.

3. In a centrifugal casting machine, a mold carrier comprising a baseplate having depending pins adjacent one side thereof, a side plateoverlapping said base plate and having bearings slidably engaging saidpins, an adjustment screw conneoting said base plate and side plate witha swivel engagement with the one and a threaded engagement with theother, a top plate hingedly connected to the upper end of said sideplate, a pair of channel bearings secured to and projecting beyond thefree edge of said top plate, a pair of parallel bars, a plurality oftension springs connecting said bars, the upper of said bars beingdetachably engageable with said channel bearings, a screw having aswivel engagement with the lower bar and a threaded bearing on said basemember with which said screw is engaged, whereby the resilient pressureupon said top plate may be adjusted by the last mentioned screw.

4. In a centrifugal casting machine, the comblnation with a swingingarm, of a post member slotted for the passage of said arm therethrough,a U-shaped member embracing said post member bifurcated to embrace saidarm and fixedly attached thereto, a screw connecting said post andU-shaped member having a swivel engagement with the one and a threadedengagement with the other to form a means for transversely adjustingsaid post with respect to said arm and a mold carrier mounted on saidpost comprising base and top clamping plates, said base plate beingattached to the upper end of said post, a side member transverselyadjustably connected to said base plate and hingedly connected to saidtop plate, an end plate longitudinally adjustably secured to said baseplate and a resilient link detachably engageable with the free edgeportion of said top plate and vertically adjustably connected to saidbase plate.

5. In a centrifugal casting machine, the combination with a swin'ga bleelement and a molding material container radially adjustable on saidelement, of a mold carrier, comprising a base, a depending post on saidbase secured in a radialfixed, but transversely slidable, manner on saidswingabie element, a rear plate secured on said base vertically slidablyrelative thereto, means to cause said rear late to slide upwardly ordownwardly on said base, a top plate hingedly carried by said rearplate, and a releasable resilient connection between said base and saidtop plate.

6. In a centrifugal casting machine, the combination with a swingableelement and a molding material container radially adjustable on saidelement, of a mold carrier, comprising a base, a depending post on saidbase secured in a radially fixed, but transversely slidable, manner onsaid swingable element, a rear plate secured on said base verticallyslidably relative thereto, means to cause said rear plate to slideupwardly or downwardly on said base, a top plate hingedly carried bysaidrear plate, a forward,

projection on said top plate, a forward projection on said base carryingan upwardly and downwardly adjustable anchoring member, and a resilientmember having its lower end secured to said anchoring member and itsupper end being adapted to be releasably secured to said forward proection on the top plate.

7. In a centrifugal casting machine, the combination with a swingableelement and a molding material container radially adjustable on saidelement, of a mold carrier, comprising a base, a depending post on saidbase secured in a radially fixed, but transversely slidable, manner onsaid swingable element, a rear plate secured on said upwardlyopenohannel shaped forward projections on said top plate, a barremovably placed into said channels, and spring connecting means betweensaid two bars, whereby the mold carrier may be adjusted to molds ofvarious heights and an adjustable resilient pressure may be exerted onthe molds. l

8. In a centrifugal casting machine, the combination with a, swingableelement and a molding material container radially adjustable on saidelement, of a mold carrier, comprising a base, a depending post on saidbase secured in a radially fixed, but transversely slidable, manneronsaid swingable element, a rear plate secured on said base verticallyslidably relative thereto, means to cause said rear plate to slideupwardly or downwardly on said base, a top plate hingedly carried bysaid rear plate, a releasable resilient connection between said base andsaid top plate, and a radially adustable slidable abutment member onsaid'base, whereby the carrier may be adjusted to molds of differentsizes, resilient pressure may be exerted thereon and the position ofsaid molds may be adjusted both axially and transversely on saidswingable element;

9. In a centrifugal casting machine, the combination with a swingableelement and a molding material container radially adjustable on saidelement, of'a mold carrier, comprising a base, a

tion between said base and said top plate, a slidable transverseabutment member on said base,

said base being provided with a longitudinal slot from one side thereofto the other to a portion of its length in about its center line, aprojection in said base on the inner end of said slot, a projection onsaid abutment member slidable in said slot, and an adjusting screwpassed through said projection in the abutment member and swiveled inthe projection on the base, whereby the car- REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

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